Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya (not the four-time Boston champ but another, 21-year-old Robert Cheruiyot) is the men's leader at 25 miles and on pace to break the course record (2:07:14, set by the four-time champion Robert Cheruiyot).

The leaders dropped Meb Keflezighi in the Newton hills. Deriba Merga is in the lead and Robert Cheruiyot (a different Robert Cheruiyot, not the four-time winner) is right with him. The two ran a 4:42 split through the 18th mile and went faster in Mile 19 (4:37). And they look very comfortable.

The men's lead pack ran the 11th mile in 5:02, a little slower than their 4:34 10th mile pace. Ryan Hall was 15 seconds back after 10 miles but amazingly caught back up and is now in the lead again after 11 miles.

He was challenged by America's Krige Schabort in the final mile of the race but Ernst Van Dyk won his record ninth Boston Marathon championship in 1:26:53.

In the men's race, Deriba Merga just started to push the pace and the lead pack ran through nine miles in 43:32. Meb Keflezighi is hanging off the back of the pack. Ryan Hall has dropped back but is still in sight of the leaders.

Just like he did last year, Ryan Hall has taken an early lead. The men's lead pack went through the 10K mark at 30:06 and are currently on pace to finish in 2:07. Hall finished third last year after dropping back to ninth after 16 miles.

Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi, along with the rest of the first wave of men's runners, just started the 114th Boston Marathon.

Meb, of course, became the first American male since 1982 to win the New York City Marathon last year. Hall has one of the fastest American marathon times. Both would like to become the first American male since 1983 to win Boston. We'll find out in a little over 2 hours.

As far as a Connecticut connection, both Meb and Ryan are New Haven Road Race winners. Meb won in 2003 and Ryan in 2006.

Just saw Sherri Piers of Falmouth, Me., who finished second with Shannon McHale of Simsbury in 2008 at the ING Greater Hartford Marathon, on TV. The women are well into the first mile and there are 14 women, including last year's runner-up Dire Tune of Ethiopia, in the lead pack.

Wheelchair racer Ernst Van Dyk is in the lead at the 10K mark, going for his record ninth Boston Marathon title.

The wheelchair racers are off, the elite women's field is getting ready to go in a few minutes and it's a beautiful day for the running of the 114th Boston Marathon, 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston, where the finish line (below) awaits the approximately 26,000 runners who hope to complete the course.

Lucas Meyer of Ridgefield and Brendan Callahan of Middletown are the top men's runners from Connecticut.

Both are racing for the BAA.

Two-time Mt. Washington Road Race winner Eric Blake, who was the top state finisher at Boston last year (2:23:54), is not running at Boston this year.

Zofia Turosz, 71, of Manchester is featured in a Boston Globe story today about aging runners. Turosz, a long-time familiar face on the Connecticut road running scene, finished first (4:19:49) in the 70-74 age group at Boston last year.

Even the marathon was affected by the grounding of the planes from Europe to the volcanic ash problem. It was estimated that several hundred runners from Europe did not make it to the race today because of cancelled flights.